If the sales tax in your city is $8.0\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$78$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Solution: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${8.0\%} \times {\$78} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $8.0\%$ is equivalent to $8.0 \div 100$ $8.0 \div 100 = 0.080$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.080$ $\times$ $$78$ = $$6.24$ You would pay $$6.24$ in sales tax.